Ethics suggest action, hence our recent posts for Make-a-Difference Day. To wrap up this segment of our curriculum in a meaningful way, we invited Nancy Berlinger, PhD, medical ethicist at The Hastings Center to join us in parsing the ethics of recent actions and proposals regarding Ebola quarantines.
Students prepared by researching a range of case studies – shelters, refugee camps, detention centers and prisons; Dr. Berlinger provided the healthcare context. By understanding the success and failures of one system, can we improve and apply ethical design to another system?
As we discussed the various infrastructure problems related to Ebola preparedness and treatment here and abroad, an idea emerged. Runways in developing nations often can’t handle deliveries of military aid. Physical interactions require care and knowledge. Might this be the highest and best scenario for the deployment of drones? Rather than targeted attacks, spying, real estate photography or Amazon Prime Air deliveries…
Searching “drones ebola” shows a few others making similar proposals in recent months, including this post from Popular Science. But the search results are a smattering, and not much from major news outlets. We’ve looked to Solutions Journalism to guide our writing and to inspire our potential for impact; let’s hope we’re now a small but meaningful part in a future story about design thinking, design empathy and design ethics.
Are we armchair ethicists, or can we be part of this action?
Design Denizens 